Barnabas Bidwell

Barnabas Bidwell (23 August 1763-27 July 1833) was a member of the US House of Representatives (DR-MA 12) from 4 March 1805 to 3 March 1807, succeeding Simon Larned and preceding Ezekiel Bacon.

Biography
Barnabas Bidwell was born in Monterey, Massachusetts in 1763, and he became a lawyer in Stockbridge in 1805 and served in the US House of Representatives from 1805 to 1807. He displaced John Randolph of Roanoke as Thomas Jefferson's spokesman, and he directed the campaign to purchase Florida and led the successful effort which led to the abolition of the slave trade in 1808. After embezzling money while he was Berkshire County treasurer, he fled to Canada in 1810. He failed to take his seat in the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada due to his fugitive status, and he died in Bath in 1833.